At a hearing in Brentwood Thursday, Randolph Maidens' bond was lowered from $2.5 million to $750,000 in the alleged slaying of his wife Dr. Rachael Maidens.

During the preliminary and bond reduction hearing, Judge Al Nations listened to more than an hour of testimony from witnesses, including two Brentwood police officers, who told the court what they saw at the crime scene and how they found the couple's 2-year-old daughter alone in the home.

Randolph Maidens allegedly shot and killed his wife, a Brentwood orthodontist, at their home in the exclusive Governors Club subdivision in Brentwood sometime on or before Sunday, April 21.

Just before 6 p.m. that Sunday, Brentwood Police Officer Austin Kearn arrived at the Maidens’ home at 64 Governors Way as part of a welfare check at the behest of Rachael’s mother.

No one answered the door or responded to phone calls made by the officer and his partner, but a garage door was open. Officers said they entered the home through a garage door and started shouting out, announcing their arrival, calling for either of the Maidens to respond by name.

Instead of hearing from Randolph or Rachael Maidens, Kearn testified that he heard a young child’s voice coming from upstairs shouting, "I'm here! I'm here!"

Kearn went up the steps and opened a door where he found the couple’s 2-year-old daughter, Natalie, in a crib. Kearn said he picked up the little girl and as he took her downstairs to hand her to a fellow police officer, the child said repeatedly, "Daddy gone. Daddy gone."

After Kearn had removed the little girl from the house, he went back upstairs to continue searching for signs of her parents. It was when he looked over a balcony railing into a large room on the first floor that he saw blood splattered on a wall and a shotgun lying on a couch.

Kearn testified that he made his way back down to the first floor toward where he saw the blood splatter and what appeared to be a body wrapped in a blanket, which turned out to be Rachael Maidens.

Her body was found between the foyer and the living room area, by a hallway leading to the master bedroom. There had been signs that someone had attempted to clean the blood off the walls and floor.

Adding to the drama in the courtroom was Lt. John Wood of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Brentwood Police Department.

Wood said as part of a search of the home a note was found on a kitchen island, allegedly left there by Randolph Maidens, which he said indicated that Maidens had killed his wife, that he was sorry and that he wanted his daughter to be placed in the custody of his now dead wife’s mother. Maidens also apparently wrote that "he wouldn't be around."

Maidens’ attorney, David Raybin, asked Wood if he thought it was a suicide note. Wood said "yes."

According to testimony, a further search of the house during the investigation yielded the discovery of a small fireproof safe in the open trunk of Randolph's white 2013 Infiniti. The safe was open when police arrived and contained envelopes with $87,200 in cash inside.

Inside the house, stashed in various locations ranging from a beer stein to Rachael’s camera bag, was an additional $8,500.

In light of that information, Randolph’s attorney Raybin argued that his client was not a flight risk and that his $2.5 million bond should be lowered.

Raybin argued that his client had turned himself in, that he had been attempting to contact an attorney as phone records showed, that no passport was in the car, and that money was still in the house all meant Randolph was not planning to flee.

Raybin further stated his client had ample time to run if he wanted to, even acknowledging that earlier on that fateful Sunday, Randolph had spoken to his mother-in-law who warned him that if Rachael was not put on the phone in 10 minutes that she was calling police.

Raybin was forceful in his argument that the high bond was no bond at all, saying that should the bond be lowered, neither his fee nor the bond would come out of equity in the home the couple co-owned.

A check of probate records shows, however, that while the property is estimated at $721,200, Rachael’s estate estimates that she had personal property in the neighborhood of $500,000 and the gross value of the estate for inheritance tax purposes is $600,600.

Rachael’s mother, Elizabeth Frisbie, is listed as her executor and is attempting to probate the estate on behalf of her granddaughter but that process is now on hold as Randolph Maidens has hired two attorneys, David Veile and William P. Holloway of Schell and Davies, to represent him on that matter.

What that means in short, is Randolph could still gain access to part of his deceased wife’s estate.

Also mentioned in the probate filing, as well as in court Thursday, is that Randolph is not allowed to contact his daughter or any of Rachael’s family.

As part of his closing statements assuring that Randolph would appear in court if freed on bond, Raybin said, "He will be here and he will do what I tell him to do."

While District Attorney Kim Helper argued that bond should not be lowered, Nations agreed and set a guaranty bond at $750,000 with restrictions. That means that Maidens will have to pay a bondsman about $75,000 that is nonrefundable before he could be freed.

3 Comments on this post:

Odd. He seems like a danger to the community. I would not give this weirdo an opportunity to get out.

By:Rasputin72 on 5/23/13 at 5:30

The judge obviously knows a great deal more than the public. I think the public would view this fellow as a suicide or mayhem case.

By:govskeptic on 5/24/13 at 7:40

Rabin has a way of getting about anything he wants out of many Judges in
this area. Is he a Santa Claus at Christmas or just a good ole boy year round?
This defendant is not only a serious flight risk, but actions by him in the crime and
before shows danger to the community at large. But hey, I'm just a citizen.